In the industry, for example in the glass industry or in the container industry, the produced containers, such as for example bottles, must be moved from a base to a pallet. On the pallet, a group of containers that are then later secured by a film tube, which is slipped thereover, are then stacked on top of one another. Typically, the base is a revolving conveyor belt that transports the containers. The containers are then piled up on a platform that corresponds to the pallet size, by a stop. This region is also called the accumulating area. As soon as a group of containers is complete, the containers are picked up by a lifter and are deposited on a pallet and on the upper layer of a stack of pallets that has already been deposited, respectively.
In a known apparatus, a height-adjustable lift table borders on the accumulating area for this purpose. The group of individually packaged goods, such as containers, is horizontally pushed onto the displacement table. Then, the displacement table, which in turn borders on the pallet, is displaced into the desired height so that the group of individually packaged goods, such as containers, is pushed onto the pallet in a last step or—provided that a plurality of layers of containers are already stacked on top of one another on the pallet, is pushed onto the intermediate floor panel, which was placed onto the last deposited group of containers on the upper side.
A disadvantage is hereby that, due to the displacement table that must additionally be height-adjustable, such apparatuses require an increased amount of space. Furthermore, the possibilities of disposing the accumulating area and the deposition area are limited because of the displacement table that is disposed therebetween. In addition, such apparatuses can be used only to a limited extent, for example for containers with very small diameters, because of the transitions between the accumulating area and the displacement table on the one hand and the displacement table and the deposition area on the other hand.